In the afternoon, Liu Bei led Guan Yu and other defeated soldiers down the hillside. He surrendered to Gao Jin. Gao Jin personally reined in his horse and greeted him at the bottom of the mountain. When he saw Liu Bei's figure in the distance, he walked over.
When Liu Bei saw Gao Jin approaching, he was about to salute, but Gao Jin had stopped him, held his hand and said, "Xuande has suffered a lot. In today's battle, I was lucky enough to win. Since Xuande is willing to surrender, you and I will
We should work together to support the Han Dynasty."
Liu Bei even said that he did not dare, and called "Lord" dryly, looking a little depressed, but he did not dare to neglect the due etiquette, and solemnly bowed to Gao Jin.
Gao Jin looked at Guan Yu and said to Guan Yu: "General Guan is really brave. My general Qiao Rui almost died under your sword, but fortunately he saved his life."
Guan Yu lost all his pride at this time and reluctantly saluted Gao Jin.
After that, Xiangcheng opened its doors and surrendered. Mi Zhu and Mi Fang asked to surrender. Gao Jin ordered Zang Ba to take the counties of Peiguo County and return to Xiapi.
……………………
In Donghai County, Chen Qun arrived at Donghai and immediately started to register various salt ponds. His mission during this trip was not announced to the outside world. He only said that he was here to measure the salt ponds. The various families just said that Gao Jin wanted to ask for taxes from them.
Therefore, the backlash was not intense. They knew that Gao Jin had a bad feeling with them. As long as they could keep the salt pond, everything else could be discussed. Therefore, in just a few days, Chen Qun received hundreds of people at his residence.
Chen Qun declined the invitations one by one and ordered people to investigate the situation of each salt pond while discussing with Zhang Liao how to take back the salt ponds.
Taking back the salt pond is actually not easy. Almost the entire Xuzhou aristocratic family, large and small, has been involved in it. They are intricately connected. These aristocratic families are by no means easy to bully. Some aristocratic families have thousands of servants and hundreds of generals. If they are really forced too much
If it is tight, it will make these people rebound, and then the whole of Xuzhou will be in chaos.
In order to ensure this, Zhang Liao's Bingzhou Army was ready to suppress the rebellion at any time. On the other hand, breaking down the resistance will of some small aristocratic families is also Chen Qun's key task. After all, small aristocratic families are not as arrogant as big aristocratic families. In Yanchi,
The profit is not big, but it is easy to get out.
Chen Qun adopted the method of differentiation. He first spread the word and said that in order to facilitate control, Gao Jin planned to divide the salt pond into seven parts and hand them over to seven families for management.
When this incident came out, an uproar immediately spread, and the big families were naturally jealous. Gao Jin's offer of seven quotas meant that all the salt ponds were monopolized by the seven big families. This was an even bigger profit than now, as long as
If you can grab a spot, it's not difficult to earn tens of thousands a year.
As for the medium-sized families, they are also eager to try. They still have some hope and at least have the opportunity to compete. However, there are not many such opportunities. The resources of large families are more abundant, and their connections are not comparable to them.
The small family fully understands the seriousness of the current situation. This means that the interests in hand are likely to be absorbed by the big family.
Chen Qun spread the news again and ordered all the families who owned the salt pond to push out seven families. This move was very vicious. When he asked the family heads to come to his residence, they could smell the strong smell of gunpowder.
All families mean what they are today. The future of the family only depends on today. More than ninety people were sharpening their knives. During the banquet, Chen Qun and Zhang Liao were sitting at the top. The other heads of the families originally wanted to
Chen Qun set out the rules, but Chen Qun was very meaningful and did not express any attitude. He just said to everyone: "I invite you all to come here today just to discuss the matter of the salt pond. My lord has an order. In order to facilitate the administration, there are only seven salt ponds in the East China Sea."
The families can get involved, as for which seven families..." He paused meaningfully, and said slowly: "How about you guys reveal it today?"
Everyone looked at each other, public recommendation? What kind of thing is this? It’s just that in the face of huge interests, everyone is vying for the first place, and no one is willing to give in. The first person to stand up is Zhang Shao, the patriarch of the Zhang family in Guangling. The Zhang family is the largest in Guangling County.
The influence of the family is profound. One of his sons was still an official in Xuchang, with a fortune and many servants. Zhang Shao seemed young, and young people inevitably have great energy. He was the first to avoid the table and said loudly: "
The Zhang family is a big family, so this salt pond must be counted as a share of the Zhang family. As for the rest, how about you guys recommend it?"...
Zhang Shao's words are extremely arrogant. In fact, he does have the ability to be arrogant. On normal days, who would dare to say no in front of the Zhang family? In the past two years, the dispute between the Zhao family and the Zhang family in Guangling County
The two families turned against each other and a large-scale fight broke out. It only took the Zhang family half a month to settle the matter. As a result, more than ninety men of the Zhao family died. Not only did the disputed land go to the Zhang family, but they also
He dedicated thirty hectares of farmland to make amends.
The Zhao family was also a wealthy family, but the Zhang family did not take it seriously. Not only did no one in the court punish him for this fight, but even the government at that time was biased towards the Zhang family. Therefore, Zhang Shao's words carry a lot of weight.
But today it is different. What is being fought over now is not the acres of land, but the salt pond. The profit from the salt pond is ten times or a hundred times that of the acres. When everyone saw that Zhang Shao wanted to get a share, they were naturally dissatisfied and objected one after another: "How can the Zhang family get a share?"
How can you be so virtuous as to ask for a share just by opening your mouth?"
"Mr. Chen clearly said that it was a public recommendation. No one recommended the Zhang family, but you are so arrogant. Do you mean that you don't take Mr. Chen and General Zhang seriously?".
"Since we want to divide the salt pool, we must have justice and the virtuous should live there."
Zhang Shao didn't expect that so many people would speak out against it, and his face changed drastically. He looked around and saw that even his in-law, the head of the Zhou family, Xia Pi, was also in the ranks of the opposition. He was furious, but he was helpless, knowing that he had offended the public.
, had no choice but to sit back down angrily.
In fact, Zhang Shao still doesn't understand that this dispute over the salt pond is a battle over the fundamental interests of the family. If a small or medium-sized family gets a share, it will inevitably stand out and become one of the top big families in Xuzhou. If a big family loses its share, say
Maybe within three or two years, it will be reduced to a small and medium-sized family. The salt pond is related to the ebb and flow of strength among the families. It is a matter of fundamental interests of each family. Even the king of heaven, I am afraid that no one will give away the benefits and be humble.
It is absolutely impossible for things to happen here. As for in-laws, that is even more ridiculous. How can in-laws be as strong as family interests? At this time, even my biological father will never show any favor.
After Zhang Shao sat down, several other major families also hoped that those families with whom they usually have good relations would be recommended. However, the results of the recommendation were unexpected. There were more than 90 family heads, but the people elected were all from their own family, and no one wanted to
It's cheaper for outsiders.
I heard that it was a public recommendation. Even the small family became jealous. After all, the public recommendation is not about strength. In other words, they have the same possibility as the big family. For this reason, why not strive for it? As for the big family, then
It is also the main force fighting for the salt pond. Many big families rely on the salt pond for maintenance. Once the salt pond is lost, it will only be a matter of time for the family to fall into decline.